Prometheus – Special Edition

I really dug this version of the movie. A lot of the idiotic plot holes in the original theatrical cut were thankfully corrected here, and most of the extended scenes that really never should have been cut (since in cutting some of them it makes the character's actions/dialogue not make much sense in the theatrical version) being restored was great. The editing and re-ordering of sequences was incredibly seamless and well done. Video quality overall was excellent.

That said, I had a couple of issues with this edit that held back more scores in some categories.

The first, and this was big one for me, was the lack of a surround track really hurt this edit. Prometheus has one of the best sounding audio tracks available on the market today, and hearing it compressed (both in number of channels and bitrate) into a stereo track hurt.

I enjoyed the use of some musical selections from the previous Alien films, but what I didn't like was the rather sloppily overlayed alien shrieking and hissing sound effects lifted from Aliens and inserted over top of the scene with the Fifield monster and the Deacon at the end. Those scenes already had their own sound effects, and overlaying it just came off really awkward.

I missed the opening with the Engineer. I liked the Weyland speech, but I would've liked to see both the extended opening (with the Elder Engineers) and the speech following directly after.

I wish the deleted scene with the subtitles for the Engineer had been used. It bugs me that you don't really know what he says in the original version and this cut since David doesn't translate it all (and if I remember correctly from the subtitled version he doesn't even translate accurately, though I believe that has something to do with his own agenda).

All that aside, this is still an excellent fanedit and in many ways is superior to the theatrical cut. Definitely recommended!!

As much as I enjoyed the original film, I always felt that it *tried* too hard to be an Alien film, while at the same time, missing many of the elements that made Alien so successful.

This edit changes all that. It feels like the film Prometheus wanted to be.

Picture & sound quality are simply stunning and this is now the version I will watch and I will watch it MANY more times than the original.

Highest of recommendations

I have to say that this is the best fan edit I've seen and I've seen a lot. Adywan's SW:R is something entirely different as he fixed the shoddy effect work of the special edition and the original movie, but Agent9's work on PROMETHEUS plays with the existing footage and creates a much more satisfying experience, in my opinion.

All the re-integrated footage works brilliantly and his choice of edits improve the characterisations and motivations. It's impossible to entirely fix the shoddy writing in the movie but I believe this is the best that we'll ever get - a fixed version of Ridley Scott's return to the Alien universe.

Speaking of Alien, Agent9 really makes his edit feel like it belongs more in the Alien canon. His sound editing is superb and every choice he made enhances the film.

I missed the original beginning but after a while I realised that this particular edit doesn't need it and it was right to drop it. I would personally cut the TED speech right down as it meanders and doesn't really help the movie. I would have cut to the titles when Weyland explains about Prometheus stealing fire from the Gods. "What have we done with it?" That would set up the tone of the movie perfectly and would justify cutting the original opening. It also hints that we haven't done anything to be proud of which could be the motivation behind the Engineers decision to exterminate us.

The new title sequence works brilliant and the 3D is very good, although I would have reversed it so that the title "PROMETHEUS" was 'out front' and the credits were behind it. Unfortunately, my BD player won't allow me to fast forward to reverse the disc so I can't check but if there isn't a date at the TED conference, there should be as the date is established later in the movie when Prometheus arrives at LV223.

On a purely technical note, I was hoping to replace my 3D Prometheus disc with Agent9's edit and keep them all together in the steelbook I have, but unfortunately a couple of technical issues will prevent me from doing so. There is no menu with the disc, which I can live with, but it's a pain not being able to fast forward or rewind. I won't blame Agent9 for this as it could be an issue with my BD player. However, the bitrate is lower than my original movie and the 3D is... different. It's a little hard to put my finger on but I believe the subtle instances where objects are in front of the screen are no longer in front. You definitely get 3D depth going back but nothing coming forward in the original unaltered footage. The silica storm is a good place to compare versions. Also the oratory. I remember an orbit coming slightly out of the screen but this doesn't happen in this version. It's a very small matter, as I said, but I was hoping to replace my original theatrical release with Agent9's edit as I believe his is the more solid movie.

The re-instated Fifield monster works brilliantly and you do get the feeling that you are looking at an early xenomorpth although the colour timing isn't as successful as elsewhere. It looks a little too much in the magenta area to my eyes. I could be wrong. And for everyone who hated the rolling space ship, just watch how Agent9 fixes it. Miraculous.

To summarise, this is an absolutely astounding fan edit. Not only does it fix problems with the story but it also links the film more firmly to it's predecessors. Brilliant, brilliant work.

I really thoroughly enjoyed this edit when it came out as it fixed a lot of the issues I had with the theatrical.
I love that the engineer fight came back along with the fifield scene and such, really added to it.

What felt wrong with this edit as with the theatrical though, is the colouring and cripsness of the film. This really needed a much more grim feel like the original alien had rather than the mostly sleek hd vibrancy it ended up having.

I also can't work out why every edit of this film I see includes the TEd talk, usually at the beginning, its such an uninspired promo scene that doesn't really set up the atmosphere or the narrative in a meaningful way.

I'll have to re-watch the Prometheus Unbound edit to see if it's still a more favorable edit than this as I originally pegged Unbound as the near perfect edit, but narrative-wise this feels like a close call.

This edit has a ton of re-working done to [mostly] seamlessly remove not only the larger issues, but nearly all of even the small things without affecting the original narrative. While I'm not happy that the TED talk made it in here as well (I seriously don't get why people think it belongs), everything beyond that is pretty smooth. There are some minor issues with audio editing where it clips in, as well as some of the 3rd act editing can get a bit choppy but nothing that stands out too much. Ultimately, the narrative here is smooth and I'm glad it didn't include any of the Earth/excavation scenes, and the Fifield departing from the crew bit - actually the whole Fifield subplot - worked very well.

Outside of the narrative, my only issues are with audio and video editing and [take this with a grain of salt] the video quality of the 1080p release that I happened to watch. It was very blocky, blurry, and just looked like it was encoded with a low bitrate even though the bitrate is 11mbps. Maybe it's just my source. I don't remember where I got it from to be honest, but if the version I watched is an official release, it looks upscaled. Regardless, it's a great edit and potentially in the run for best edit out there... I recommend this and Prometheus Unbound. Both are great edits.